Cobb schools to go remote next week, report 470 new COVID cases

The Cobb County School District on Friday announced that all classes next week will be done via remote, due to “high numbers of staff and students recently informed to quarantine.”

The district has been shifting some schools to remote learning this week, including Simpson Middle School and McCleskey Middle School in East Cobb.

In a release sent Friday morning, the district said face-to-face learning would resume on Monday, Jan. 25.

Next week is a shortened one with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday being observed on Monday.

Here’s more from the district’s statement Friday:

This decision comes as a result of daily consultation with local and state public health officials regarding the high numbers of staff and students recently informed to quarantine. This break will provide our families and staff an opportunity to quarantine and work together to fight COVID-19 from our homes by limiting large gatherings, enforcing social distancing, wearing a mask when social distancing is not possible, and regularly washing our hands. According to the Center for Disease Control and Department of Health guidelines, it is crucial that students and staff who display COVID-19 symptoms quarantine and do not report to school or work.
In recent remarks made by Dr. Janet Memark, Director for Cobb & Douglas Public Health, parents are being encouraged to consider remote learning, if possible, while commending the school District for continuing to offer face-to-face classrooms for those who need that option.
The separation period will allow our staff and students to return on January 25 after a time of quarantine, better prepared to teach and learn in face-to-face and remote classrooms to honor the instructional delivery models our families have chosen.

The district didn’t specify numbers in the release, but in its weekly COVID update on Friday, 470 new cases were reported, a single-week high.

Last week the district began showing the number of active cases at each school. This week, there are 22 active cases at Lassiter High School, along with the 21 active cases reported at McCleskey last week.

Another 14 active cases are being reported at Dodgen Middle School, 12 active cases each at Pope and Walton high schools, 10 at Mabry Middle School, 8 at East Cobb Middle School and 7 at Simpson Middle School.

The district does not break down staff and student case figures, and it does not indicate how many others may be in quarantine.

Cobb’s decision to go all-virtual for next week follows similar decisions by Gwinnett, Fulton and Cherokee public schools.